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- Philosophy Statement
- 1. History of Jewish/General Education
- 2. Assessment
- 3. Curriculum
- 4. Language Development/Hebrew
- 5. Personal Development of Teachers
- 6. Collaboration/Community
- 7. Technology
- 8. Learning and Cognition
- 9. Evidence-Based Practice
- 10. Child Development
- 11. Content Knowledge
- 12. Ethics and Values
- 13. Instructional Methods
- Inspiration/Chizuk
- Post-Observation Reflections
(Re)Application Essay
April 20, 2010
Rav S. R. Hirsch’s beautiful quote from Horeb addresses the whole of a person, and even more so a person with greater potential and greater responsibility, the Jew with a Divine mission in life, who possesses not only a mind and a heart, but a soul. Whereas any ordinary teacher might suffice to enrich students intellectually, and perhaps emotionally, a Jewish educator has the unique responsibility, privilege, and challenge of also teaching and cultivating the inherent greatness of a student’s soul. The atmosphere of nineteenth-century Europe in which Rav Hirsch lived has, in many ways, directly affected our community and our world in both the academic and religious spheres, and we can extrapolate his message as a guide for us today.
It was natural for Rav Hirsch to specify, “The mind is to be enlightened”; he lived during the European Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, in which everything in life was intellectually scrutinized, analyzed, and evaluated according to its appeal to the rational mind. The concept of enlightenment, although often associated with secularization, is in fact rooted in our Scripture, in which wisdom is called light (Mishlei; Tehillim). As a leader of the Jewish community, Rav Hirsch was confronted with the intense dilemma of Jewish assimilation and conversion into Western Christian society. For “enlightened” Jews to respect him and listen to him, he needed to be knowledgeable of their environment and culture, and be able to successfully portray Judaism not as dusty, obsolete, uncouth, and archaic, but as vibrant, interesting, rationally and emotionally satisfying, and eternally relevant. His learned, fascinating, and articulate sermons and writings provided the elite Jewish academia with a window into tradition, as well as enabling the traditionally observant Jews a taste of Torah in a newer, more academic style. We thank him for stemming the powerful anti-Torah tide of his day, and for providing us with much inspiration and insight to navigate the seas of our own turbulent times.
While we are “The People of The Book”, Judaism addresses more than just the mind. “Reishit Hokhma Yir’at Hashem” (Tehillim). Even before intellectual knowledge, one must have knowledge and connection with The Divine. The mind, with its free choice and complex cognition, distinguishes us from animals, and is a vehicle for connecting to The Eternal (Rambam). But, engaging in academic discourse is not what will singularly ensure an observant lifestyle for most people. Rav Hirsch, a philosopher, certainly valued the realm of the intellectual, and used it to appeal to his “enlightened” constituency; today, as well, even though the masses are not necessarily sophisticated, our culture is still largely one of “I’ll believe it when I see it”. We resist that which we cannot understand.
But, Rav Hirsch knew, as do successful Jewish educators today, that more than intellectual appeal is needed to attract, satisfy, nurture, and develop proud, committed Jews. In fact, some may not even have the mental capacity to appreciate the rational aspects of Judaism, so there must be other ways to connect with our tradition. Our emotions and personalities need to be validated and appreciated, and we need experiences which enrich and encourage our existence as individuals. “The heart is to be inspired”; we need external motivation to trigger internal ability to access the higher and deeper levels of life, such as relationships- with others, with ourselves, and with our Creator.
Rav Hirsch , elsewhere, explains that the menorah in the Beit HaMikdash is the symbol of wisdom: the six outer branches represent the six categories of knowledge, and their flames all point towards the middle, the light of Torah and Hashem, The epicenter of all. While each discipline is significant on its own, it is meaningless if not rooted in eternal values, and not used for further disseminating those values. The mind governs our actions, and we must make decisions logically and responsibly; but, the heart is the proverbial center of all, because it is the nourishing blood, the personal feelings and connections, which ensure the quality of life. Emotion pervades all we do; without it, we are coarse, dry, and impersonal. The heart must be inspired, and thereby affect the mind, to inspire the overall experience of life. “Everything is to be directed to the great objective of living a Jewish life in G-d’s world”.
While the question of “faith vs. reason” has occupied us for centuries, many of our current Jewish institutions result from the ideologies of Jewish Enlightenment thinkers and activists. Rav Hirsch’s motto of “Torah im derekh eretz” could arguably be considered a forerunner of Yeshiva University’s “Torah U’Maddah”, and its close corollary, “Modern Orthodoxy”. We strive to be completely engaged and devoted to the study, thought, and practice of traditional observant Judaism, while appreciating the contributions to the world by the general secular culture in which we live. While, thankfully, we perhaps do not live at a time as precarious as Rav Hirsch’s, in which he could not find even ten observant men in the thriving city of Frankfurt, our numbers have become diminished, and we seem to be continuously perplexed by maintaining this balance, and challenged by the best way to convey these ideals to the next generation.
Today’s educators, Jewish or not, face a myriad of challenges in every realm. To name a few: family relationships are devalued and disintegrating; negative peer pressure affects students’ self-esteem and forces children to face decisions beyond their years; and the advancement of technology, while so beneficial to our world, has produced a generation of people who rely on instant gratification, expect immediate results without effort, are afraid to be challenged to grow, are too lazy to act upon their principles, and care less about the future, being too focused on the moment. In many ways, it seems we have forsaken the call of reason, and ignore the logical decision to invest in the present for long-term results, instead following our physical temptations, choosing to pursue the “urgent” while ignoring the “important”.
Added to those is that religion in our world is often seen as fanatic, an opium for the masses, or simply “weird”. We must seek to educate and inspire not only healthy lifestyles in general, but to promote a value system and cultural milieu often misunderstood, underappreciated, or even shunned. We therefore have a three-pronged task to tackle: the fulfillment of mind, heart, and soul.
Judaism often involves being in-control of one’s body, refraining from certain behaviors at times, or altogether, by focusing on the long-term effects of our actions. We must try to cultivate within our students the strength of character to “do the right thing” and make the right decisions, thinking independently and responsibly, not to be swayed by popular opinion or momentary desires. We must encourage young people to observe halakhah, which often makes demands contrary to what we prefer, by fortifying them with the intellectual foundations of Judaism, to serve as an inner compass and guide to direct their behaviors properly. Young people search for identity and purpose; we need to demonstrate that our religious lives are not arbitrary, but meaningful and fulfilling.
On the reverse, intellectual students may become so focused on the rational reasons for religion, that when an answer does not fully satisfy, they may reject the question altogether. We therefore must also show the beauty, depth, and human sensitivity of Judaism, filling the vast sea of the human heart with a sense of belonging, kindness, and love. Even the smartest person yearns for interpersonal connection. Our need for social belonging and human affection and appreciation is ultimately a metaphor for our ultimate relationship with G-d (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva). We therefore see how the three elements of a person are necessarily interconnected.
We face a great challenge: to integrate the intellectual and the emotional, into the spiritual, in educating impressionable young people to lead healthy, successful, purposeful lives. Formal lectures and lessons are necessary and crucial. But, unlike education of the mind in any secular subject, a Jewish educator of a Jewish subject must exemplify the ideals of that which s/he teaches, must embody the timeless values of our tradition, serving as an active, living, enthusiastic role model of the ideals we seek to perpetuate. It is a serious responsibility, a higher calling, a taxing profession, and we become vulnerable by putting ourselves in a position of authority. But it is therefore the most fulfilling, the most influential, and the most rewarding. The future of our families, our communities, and our world depend on it.